Written Answers Friday 9 January 2009

Scottish Executive

Audiology

Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11928 by Shona Robison on 29 April 2008, how many of the assistant audiologists have now completed all of the components of Queen Margaret University’s graduate diploma in audiology course and have successfully entered employment with the NHS in Scotland as audiologists.

Shona Robison: All three audiology assistants from the first cohort of the graduate diploma in audiology at Queen Margaret University are working in the NHS as audiologists.

Benefits

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to produce a policy paper for consideration by the Parliament on changes in relation to welfare benefits and employability and the role of Skills Development Scotland.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not intend to produce a policy paper for consideration by the Parliament on changes in relation to welfare benefits and employability and the role of Skills Development Scotland. Welfare benefits are a matter reserved to the UK Parliament.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been charged with crimes against wild birds and how many were for (a) egg collecting, (b) illegal trapping, (c) illegal poisoning and (d) illegally-set baits in each year since 1989.

Fergus Ewing: The available information is given in the following table.

  Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish courts for Offences Related to Wild Birds1, 1989-90 to 2006-07

  

 Financial Year
 Killing or Taking Wild Birds 2
 Egg Collecting 3
 Total


 1989-90
 10
 3
 13


 1990-91
 5
 6
 11


 1991-92
 5
 5
 10


 1992-93
 2
 6
 8


 1993-94
 1
 6
 7


 1994-95
 2
 7
 9


 1995-96
 1
 4
 5


 1996-97
 1
 5
 6


 1997-98
 0
 5
 5


 1998-99
 1
 4
 5


 1999-2000
 2
 2
 4


 2000-01
 0
 2
 2


 2001-02
 3
 1
 4


 2002-03
 1
 0
 1


 2003-04
 5
 3
 8


 2004-05
 9
 1
 10


 2005-06
 5
 2
 7


 2006-07
 8
 4
 12



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Sections 1(1)(a) and 5(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Use of poison, trapping or baits is not separately identifiable from the data held centrally.

  3. Sections 1(1)(c), 1(2)(b) and 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions have been secured for crimes against wild birds for (a) egg collecting, (b) illegal trapping, (c) illegal poisoning and (d) illegally-set baits in each year since 1989.

Fergus Ewing: The available information is given in the following table.

  Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Offences Related to Wild Birds1, 1989-90 to 2006-07

  

 Financial Year
 Killing Or Taking Wild Birds 2
 Egg Collecting 3
 Total


 1989-90
 10
 3
 13


 1990-91
 5
 5
 10


 1991-92
 5
 2
 7


 1992-93
 2
 6
 8


 1993-94
 1
 6
 7


 1994-95
 2
 7
 9


 1995-96
 1
 2
 3


 1996-97
 1
 4
 5


 1997-98
 0
 5
 5


 1998-99
 1
 4
 5


 1999-2000
 2
 2
 4


 2000-01
 0
 2
 2


 2001-02
 3
 1
 4


 2002-03
 1
 0
 1


 2003-04
 4
 3
 7


 2004-05
 7
 0
 7


 2005-06
 4
 2
 6


 2006-07
 8
 3
 11



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Sections 1(1)(a) and 5(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Use of poison, trapping or baits is not separately identifiable from the data held centrally.

  3. Sections 1(1)(c), 1(2)(b) and 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Communities

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Accounts Commission report The impact of the race equality duty on council services , what steps are being taken to address the recommendation that the Scottish Government should ensure the availability of more up-to-date and useful social and demographic data on minority ethnic communities.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has work underway to improve the range and quality of equality information across the public sector. This work includes promoting the use of harmonised questions on ethnic groups which will allow for comparison of data from different sources. The Scottish Government is currently investigating the possibility of ethnic minority boosts to large scale social surveys. Work on this project is likely to start in spring 2009.

Domestic Abuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to provide a helpline, outreach and information service for men suffering domestic abuse.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government is aware of the increase in men reporting domestic abuse to the police and whether perpetrated by men or women, domestic abuse is never acceptable.

  Men who contact the Scottish domestic abuse helpline as a victim of domestic abuse will be listened to and referred onto a service dedicated to supporting male victims of domestic abuse.

  There are many professional agencies that can be accessed by victims of domestic abuse, regardless of gender, such as police and other legal services, NHSScotland and local authority social work and housing services etc.

  Furthermore, the Scottish Government undertook research in 2002 which indicated that there was no demand for specialist services for men and that men were not making use of existing services.

  However, we continue to keep this matter under review and should the situation change with regard to need for specialist services for men, then we will consider what response is appropriate.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what factors it believes have contributed to a 14% decrease in the number of drug treatment and testing orders applied in 2007-08.

Fergus Ewing: The drop in the use by the courts of DTTOs in 2007-08 is disappointing, although fluctuations from year to year are to be expected. The position across Scotland also varies significantly from area to area and we are therefore asking the Chief Officers of the Community Justice Authorities to assess the situation within their own areas with a view to identifying what steps may be needed locally to encourage courts to make greater use of this order.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase the number of drug treatment and testing orders.

Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18729 on 9 January 2009. Our commitment to Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) remains strong. We are contacting the Chief Officers of the Community Justice Authorities to ask them to assess what measures are needed in their areas to encourage courts to make greater use of this order. In addition, we are piloting the use of DTTOs for lower tariff offenders in the majority of the courts in Lothians and Borders. The pilot, which started in June 2008 for a two year period, will be subject to independent evaluation.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, given that 37% of drug treatment and testing order terminations in 2007-08 were completed successfully, what action it is taking to increase this proportion.

Fergus Ewing: Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) are high tariff disposals, which make stringent demands on a very challenging client group. Offenders on DTTOs are subject to monthly review hearings by the court, which provides opportunity for issues of non-compliance, where these occur, to be dealt with at an early stage. Where a breach is formally reported to the court, it is for the court to determine what sanction should be applied.

  As we indicated in our strategy for the management of offenders Protecting Scotland’s Communities we are currently piloting the use of DTTOs for lower tariff offenders, and will revisit the current sentences for drug related offending after that pilot is complete in 2010.

  More generally, and in line with the new national drugs strategy The Road to Recovery, we are seeking to ensure that all services providing treatment and rehabilitation for people with problem drug use, including those subject to DTTOs, have the individual’s recovery as their explicit aim. As stated in the strategy, this requires that a range of appropriate treatment and rehabilitation services must be available at a local level. In the longer term, services which more effectively promote recovery should make a positive contribution to the successful completion rate of DTTOs.

Drug Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for drug rehabilitation services in NHS Lothian, broken down by hospital.

Fergus Ewing: Information on the average waiting time of clients for drug treatment interventions at hospital level is not held centrally.

  A national waiting times information framework was implemented in April 2004 to enable Alcohol and Drug Action Teams (ADATs) and local services, NHS, local authority and voluntary sector, to monitor waiting times for drug treatment and care in their local area. ADATs send aggregated data to Information Services (ISD) on a quarterly basis, and ISD submit reports to the Scottish Government each quarter (these may be viewed on http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/wtpilot/reports.htm).

  NHS Lothian is covered by (1) East Lothian ADAT, (2) City of Edinburgh ADAT (3) Midlothian ADAT and (4) West Lothian ADAT.

  Table 1 presents information (by ADAT) on clients who have been offered an appointment date for any intervention during the period July-Sept 2008.

  Table 2 presents information (by ADAT) on clients who were still waiting for an appointment date for any intervention by the end of September 2008.

  Table 1: Drug Treatment Waiting Times - Clients Offered an Appointment Date for Any Intervention1,3 by ADAT4 : July to September 2008

  

 
<7 Days
 8 to 14 Days
 15 to 21 Days
 22 to 28 Days
 5 to 8 Weeks
 9 to 12 Weeks
 13 to 26 Weeks
 27 to 52 Weeks
 52+ Weeks
 Total


 East Lothian
 38
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 38


 Edinburgh City5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Midlothian
 18
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1
 0
 0
 21


 West Lothian
 42
 16
 6
 6
 9
 7
 5
 0
 0
 91



  Table 2: Drug Treatment Waiting Times - Clients Still Waiting for an Appointment Date for Any Intervention2,3 by ADAT4 as at 30 September 2008

  

 
<7 Days
 8 to 14 Days
 15 to 21 Days
 22 to 28 Days
 5 to8 Weeks
 9 to 12 Weeks
 13 to 26 Weeks
 27 to 52 Weeks
 52+ Weeks
 Total


 East Lothian
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 53
 112
 165


 Edinburgh City5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Midlothian
 1
 1
 3
 2
 1
 1
 12
 22
 48
 91


 West Lothian
 2
 5
 5
 5
 29
 13
 23
 18
 37
 137



  Notes:

  1. Time between date care plan is agreed/decision on treatment is made/date client ready for treatment and the first appointment date offered for any intervention (for those offered an intervention date during the reporting period).

  2. Time between date care plan is agreed/decision on treatment is made/date client ready for treatment and the end of the reporting period (for those still waiting to be offered an intervention date).

  3. The interventions include: structured preparatory and motivational intervention, prescribed drug treatment, community support/rehabilitation and residential detoxification/rehabilitation.

  4. Caution is recommended when interpreting these statistics as the number of services submitting data varies significantly from area to area.

  5. Data was not provided from Edinburgh City for the quarter July to September 2008 due to data quality issues.

  The member may also wish to note that the Scottish Government recently announced that there would be a measure in the NHS HEAT system for 2009-10 to offer drug misusers faster access to appropriate treatment to support their recovery.

Finance

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects that the Accountant in Bankruptcy will publish data on the impact of protected trust deeds for the period of April to September 2008 referred to in its publication Credit Union Debts in Protected Trust Deeds: Report on Public Consultation .

Fergus Ewing: The Accountant in Bankruptcy has collected data on the protected trust deeds recorded in the Register of Insolvencies between April and September 2008 and is currently analysing this data. The Accountant in Bankruptcy has written to credit unions to seek any additional evidence that they think should be taken into account. I intend to present a report to Parliament before the end of March 2009.

Fire Safety

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many house fires can be attributed to electrical safety failures in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: The information is not available in the format requested. The Scottish Government Statistical Bulletin, Fire Statistics Scotland , provides a detailed overview of Scottish fire statistics. The detail includes at table 10 (a). "Fires in dwellings and other buildings by cause and brigade area". The detail includes the category "Faulty appliance and leads". The latest bulletin, Fire Statistics Scotland 2006 , was published in April 2008, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45584). The same information for the years 2000; 2002; 2003; 2004, and 2005 are also available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre the Bib. numbers are in the following table. The information for the year 1999 is available for Scotland as a whole only, and can be found in the 2000 bulletin.

  

 Title
 Bib. Number


Fire Statistics Scotland, 2000
 22745


Fire Statistics Scotland, 2001
 27698


Fire Statistics Scotland, 2002
 32373


Fire Statistics Scotland, 2003
 35651


Fire Statistics Scotland, 2004
 39206


Fire Statistics Scotland, 2005
 42704

Fire Safety

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fatalities have occurred as a result of fires that can be attributed to electrical safety failures in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) hospital.

Fergus Ewing: The information is not available in the format requested. The Scottish Government Statistical Bulletin, Fire Statistics Scotland , provides a detailed overview of Scottish fire statistics. The detail includes at table 11 "Casualties from accidental fires in dwellings by source of ignition and cause". The detail includes the category "Faulty appliance and leads". The latest bulletin, Fire Statistics Scotland 2006 , was published in April 2008, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45584). The same information for the years 2003; 2004, and 2005 are also available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre the Bib. numbers are in the following table. The information was not reported in the period covering 1999 to 2002.

  

 Title
 Bib. Number


Fire statistics Scotland, 2003
 35651


Fire statistics Scotland, 2004
 39206


Fire statistics Scotland, 2005
 42704

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what savings it will make as a result of its reforms to Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

Jim Mather: The purpose of the reforms was not to make savings but rather to enable HIE to focus on activities that would have the greatest impact on sustainable economic growth.

  With the abolition of the local enterprise companies and the transfer of particular functions and activities to other bodies, the funding requirements for Highlands and Islands Enterprise are necessarily different post-reform for what is now a smaller, more focussed organisation.

  Details of the funding for Highlands and Islands Enterprise during the SR2007 period have been published and can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/11/13092240.

  A copy of this document is being placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44076).

Housing

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the affordable housing investment programme for 2009-10 and 2010-11, whether Edinburgh’s housing need has been assessed against that of Glasgow or the whole of Scotland and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Stewart Maxwell: No decisions have been taken yet on the allocation of Affordable Housing Investment Programme resources at local authority level in 2009-10 or in 2010-11.

  The split in resource allocation between Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2008-09 is in line with what was agreed by the previous administration for the year 2007-08.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have applied to the Mortgage to Rent scheme in each month in 2008-09 for which information is available.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of applications to the Mortgage to Rent scheme in each month for which information is available in 2008-09 is contained in the following table:

  

 Month
 Number of Applications Received


 April
 48


 May
 34


 June
 47


 July
 48


 August
 40


 September
 48


 October
 58


 November
 53


 December
 31


 Total
 407

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been successful in converting their mortgage to rent in each month in 2008-09 for which information is available.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of Mortgage to Rent applications for which information is available, settled in 2008-09 is contained in the following table:

  

 Month
 Number of Settled Cases


 April
 10


 May
 13


 June
 15


 July
 7


 August
 20


 September
 29


 October
 23


 November
 26


 December
 21


 Total
 164

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what factors it believes have contributed to the 14% increase in the number of breaches to community service orders in 2007-08.

Fergus Ewing: The specific factors contributing to this increase are not easy to identify, although there was an increase in 2007-08 in the overall number of orders given. Breach rates fluctuate from year to year and also from order to order. Criminal justice social work practice in relation to breach applications is determined by the framework set out in National Objectives and Standards for the service.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the number of breaches to community service orders.

Fergus Ewing: We are taking further steps to reduce breach by more pro-active sentence management. The proposals we announced on 17 December in response to the report of the Scottish Prisons Commission set out our plans for regular sentence review as part of the new Community Payback Sentence. In addition the aim is to speed up and simplify how breaches are handled.

  It will not be possible to eliminate breach but the intention is to send strong signals to offenders who fail to comply with the terms of their sentence that such behaviour will not be tolerated.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what factors it believes have contributed to the fact that almost one in three community service orders are breached.

Kenny MacAskill: There are many factors behind breach rates as recorded in the statistics, including more stringent reporting of breaches. Many breaches relate to failure to observe exactly the terms of the order - for example, turning up late to a work placement or failing to notify a change of address. In 2007-08, the courts revoked an order and imposed a custodial sentence in relation to only 17% of reported breaches.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the number of breaches to supervised attendance orders.

Kenny MacAskill: In 2007-08 the number of breach applications made in respect of Supervised Attendance Orders increased by 17%. However, this was against the backdrop of a 46% increase in the number of such orders that same year, which suggests that the overall breach ratio of breaches to orders made reduced.

  We announced on 17 December our intention to replace the existing sentences of Community Service, Probation and the Supervised Attendance Order with a single Community Payback Sentence. Judges will have power to set review hearings to monitor progress on the new sentence, so that problems can be picked up and dealt with as early as possible.

Justice

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has to direct the police in relation to the investigation of alleged criminality.

Kenny MacAskill: None. How investigations are carried out is a matter for the police, and it would be inappropriate for ministers to seek to influence the way in which an investigation is conducted.

  The operational independence of the police is enshrined in law. I believe that we have the right level of checks and balances in place in respect of that independence, through the role of procurators fiscal and their power to direct the police in specific investigations where circumstances dictate that to be appropriate, and the power of the Lord Advocate to issue instructions to chief constables with regard to the reporting of offences alleged to have been committed.

Mobile Phones

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been further research into the potential health risks posed by mobile phone masts since publication of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones report in 2000.

Shona Robison: The main programme of research on mobile phone technologies in the UK since 2000 has been that conducted under Phase 1 of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHR), which published its first report in 2007. The general conclusion of these studies was that mobile phone technologies were not found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects. Phase II of this research programme is now underway, and this includes a funding contribution from the Scottish Government.

Mobile Phones

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers have commissioned research into the potential health risks posed by mobile phone masts.

Shona Robison: A UK-wide Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme was set up in 2001, with funding from a number of sources, including the Scottish Government. The findings of the research studies included in this programme were published in the MTHR Report 2007 , and the Scottish Government has also committed funding from 2008 for a further five years to Phase II of the MTHR Programme. The Scottish Government has not directly commissioned any additional research on this issue.

NHS Staff

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when pharmaceutical staff employed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde can expect their Agenda for Change review process to be completed.

Nicola Sturgeon: Reviews are being conducted locally in partnership. I understand that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde plan to conduct reviews grouped according to "job family" mirroring the order in which these groups were assimilated. I am informed that Health Sciences, of which pharmacy staff are a part, will be the final group to be considered. The board anticipate having these completed by the end of June 2009.

NHS Staff

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when estates staff employed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde can expect their Agenda for Change review process to be completed.

Nicola Sturgeon: Reviews are being conducted locally in partnership. I understand that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde plan to conduct reviews grouped according to "job family" mirroring the order in which these groups were assimilated. The board anticipate that reviews for the Support Staff group, which contains estates staff, will be completed by the end of January 2009.

Prison Service

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is offered to prisoners suffering from alcohol-related problems, broken down by prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoners coming into custody are assessed for Substance Misuse issues, which include alcohol-related problems. Prisoners with an identified need are offered medical intervention, groupwork and one to one motivational support.

  The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) offers an Alcohol Awareness Programme at Aberdeen, Barlinnie, Cornton Vale, Edinburgh, Glenochil, Greenock, Inverness, Perth, Peterhead, Polmont and Shotts prisons. While this can be delivered in open prisons the SPS believes it is better that prisoners’ needs are addressed prior to being transferred to an open prison. SPS also operates a Substance Related Offending Behaviour Programme for offenders with either alcohol and/or drug issues that consists of around 120 hours of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This is for very high, high and medium risk offenders and is currently being delivered in Aberdeen, Cornton Vale, Barlinnie, Edinburgh, Glenochil, Polmont and Shotts prisons.

  Access to Alcoholics Anonymous and other community agencies providing services in prison are also available.

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any convicted criminals have received legal aid for cases pursued under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000 and, if so, how many and what the sums were in each case.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Legal Aid Board does not record the information requested.

  The board does not record whether any applicant for advice and assistance or legal aid, including those pursued under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, is a convicted person. For the most common Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings involving a convicted person, i.e. criminal confiscation proceedings, representation is covered by the original grant of legal aid and the board does not record separately that the subject matter also involved the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Student Finance

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it makes budgetary assumptions about an annual increase in the level of graduate debt repayment in setting policy on graduate debt and, if so, what it assumes the annual increase to be.

Fiona Hyslop: Graduate debt repayment is reviewed annually taking into account actual repayment information received from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the Student Loans Company. It is currently assumed that debt repayment will increase by £10 million per annum from 2008-09 but this will be subject to on-going review.

Student Finance

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how decreased interest rates will affect the Scottish Government’s income and expenditure in subsidising student loan interest.

Fiona Hyslop: Changes to the interest rate and rate of inflation will have no effect on the cost of student loans for this spending review period.

Student Finance

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the event that the inflation rate is higher than interest rates, what the rate will be of student loan interest.

Fiona Hyslop: Regulation 14 of the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 effectively provides that that the interest rate applied to Income Contingent Loans is to be the lower of:

  (i) a rate equal to the annual percentage increase in the retail price index (RPI)

  ("the RPI rate"), or

  (ii) the highest of the base rates used by a pool of banks (including the Bank of

  England) plus 1% ("the Base Rate").

  The recent reduction in the base rates of all of the banks in the pool to 2% has resulted in the RPI rate of 3.8% (for the year from 1 September 2008 to 31 August 2009) exceeding the Base Rate of 3% (2%+1%). This means that the interest rate applied to Income Contingent Loans has reduced from 3.8% to 3% as of 5 December 2008.

  Mortgage style loans are governed by different regulations than ICR Loans. These regulations which are made under the Education Student Loans Act 1990 do not require or allow the interest rate applied to mortgage style loans to change in line with any reductions in the Base Rate, so the RPI rate (3.8%) will still apply for the rest of the financial year.

Student Finance

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many independent full-time higher education students there are, broken down by age and income.

Fiona Hyslop: The number of full-time higher education students classed as independent in the academic year 2007-08 was 22,560. An analysis by age and parental or spousal income, where this was declared to SAAS, is shown in the following table.

  Independent-Full Time Students Supported by SAAS 2007-08 by Age and Residual Income

  

 Income group
 Age Group


 20 and Under
 21-24
 25 and Over
 All Ages


 Income not declared/required
 25
 35
 325
 385


< £10,000
 25
 100
 740
 865


£10,000 - £19,999
 25
 90
 895
 1010


£20,000 - £29,999
 10
 30
 755
 800


£30,000 - £39,999
 5
 5
 385
 400


£40,000 - £49,999
 5
 0
 130
 135


£50,000 or more
 10
 0
 95
 105


 Exempt from Parental/Spousal Contribution
 1,120
 4,170
 13,575
 18,865


 Total
 1,225
 4,430
 16,905
 22,560



  Notes:

  The income given is residual income, i.e. after the deductions allowed by SAAS.

  Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.

Student Finance

Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of any changes to the rates of student support for further and higher education students that will apply for academic year 2009-10.

Fiona Hyslop: I am pleased to announce the new rates of support for students in further and higher education for academic year 2009-10. I am today placing in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre details of the rates of those loans, bursaries and grants, which will be available to eligible undergraduate and postgraduate students in full-time higher education.

  A general uprating factor of 2.6%, in line with inflation, will be applied to the existing schemes of support in 2009-10, thus maintaining their value in real terms.

  The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has also agreed to maintain the alignment between the further and higher education sectors by, where appropriate, uprating the support available to further education students by 2.6%.

  A copy of these rates is also being placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47190).

Taxation

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it estimates that the reduction in VAT announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 24 November 2008 will save the Scottish Court Service between 1 December 2008 and 31 December 2009.

Kenny MacAskill: The reduction in the rate of VAT is expected to result in a saving of approximately £125,000.

Correction

The reply to question S3W-18776 which was originally answered on 19 December 2008, has been corrected: see page 5049 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-09/wa0108.htm.